


The Understudy

by sxulpix



Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-13
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-08-22 04:54:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8273672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sxulpix/pseuds/sxulpix
Summary: Thomas took Newt’s face into his hands, brushing a strand of curly blond hair off of his face, and then leaned in, his eyes fluttering shut. Newt hadn’t closed his eyes, was watching as Thomas’ lips grew closer, until they barely brushed his. Newt didn’t move, couldn’t, as Thomas paused right there and then opened his eyes, smiling, their lips barely touching.
OR the AU where Newt mainly does tech for the drama club but has to be Thomas' love interest's understudy.Also the title is a work in progress lmao.





	1. Chapter 1

Newt fiddled with the light again, trying to get its placement exactly how he wanted it. He was perched precariously on a step ladder, almost losing his balance every few seconds. “How’s it lookin’, Aris?”

His voice carried across the auditorium, reaching his friend who was halfway back in the seats, seeing how the stage looked from all angles. Newt caught a glimpse of a thumbs up before Aris shouted back “Looks great! Now get down from there, I’m scared you’ll break something!”

Newt laughed before complying, making his way back down the stepladder and placing it to the side, out of the way. Aris had made it back to the stage and now stood beside Newt, waiting for everyone else to show up for rehearsal. They always got here early to set everything up and make sure the lights were working and the sound was good. There was still a month left before the play would debut, but everyone was already nervous.

A few minutes later, people started to arrive, the first being Teresa. Her long black hair was up in a bun, and her blue eyes twinkled when she saw Aris and Newt. She ran up to them and enveloped them both in a hug. Besides Aris, Teresa was Newt’s best friend. The three of them met doing theater their freshman year, and had been best friends since. Teresa was one of the leads in the play, loving the spotlight and the rush of performing, while Newt and Aris preferred to be behind the scenes, making sure everything ran smoothly.

About 30 minutes later, rehearsal had begun. People scrambled around, getting props in place as they went from scene to scene, only doing the big ones, running through lines and choreography. Newt didn’t have much to do, so he sat with Aris in the front row of seats, watching the chaos.

Then it was time for the big scene, the one where the two forbidden lovers got together and finally proclaimed their love, sealing it with a kiss! It was so cliché that Newt would’ve rolled his eyes, if it wasn’t for the fact that they had specifically chosen to do this play with 2 guys as the love interests, making a classic love story a bit more bearable for Newt, even if some people weren’t too ecstatic about it. Plus, the lead actor was seriously attractive, and Newt felt himself blush just a little bit whenever he saw him.

Which was now, as he was frantically running around, looking panicked. His short brown hair was mussed up from the constant hand running through it, something Newt noticed he did when he was nervous. His brown eyes were creased with worry as he dashed about madly, looking for something.

Newt didn’t realize he was staring until Aris nudged him, snapping Newt out of it. Aris wiggled his eyebrows at Newt, making him blush as Aris laughed. Both he and Teresa were well aware of Newt’s crush on the lead actor, and took every opportunity to tease him about it, Teresa even going so far as to offering up Newt to be the understudy for his love interest at the beginning of the play. Newt didn’t talk to her for 3 days.

Newt had had a crush on Thomas since freshman year, and it hadn’t gone away at all. They had hardly ever spoken, and honestly he wasn’t even sure Thomas knew his name. Teresa was pretty good friends with Thomas and had tried to introduce Newt to him many times, but he had always chickened out, terrified that he would say something weird or awkward and ruin any chance of anything. Newt scoffed. Yeah, as if there was a chance of anything.

“Hey! Has anyone seen Ben? I can’t find him anywhere!” A voice rang out across the auditorium, causing Newt’s head to snap towards it. Thomas was standing on the stage, looking out at everyone, still panicking. Ben was the one playing the love interest, and they were about to go over the big kissing scene.

He heard Teresa’s voice from somewhere to his right.

“Oh, yeah. He texted me a few minutes ago, said he can’t make it at all this week. Some family thing out of state.”

Thomas looked visibly worried now, running his hand through his hair again, his eyebrows knit in frustration.

“Then who am I supposed to practice with? Does anybody know Ben’s lines?”

At this, Newt’s heart shot into his throat. He had learned the lines, being the understudy. He shot a look at Teresa, whose eyes gleamed as a wicked smile appeared on her lips. Newt was frantically shaking his head, knowing that no one else remembered who the understudy was, praying that she wouldn’t do this to him. But it was Teresa, and as much as he loved her, she was merciless.

“His understudy’s here!”

It was official. Newt felt his heart stop, sure he was going to die of embarrassment before he even stood up. He heard Aris giggling next to him, could practically see Teresa’s victorious smile from across the auditorium.

There was ringing in his ears as Aris pushed him to his feet, his heart was beating out of his chest and suddenly Newt found himself hoping he was having a heart attack and didn’t have to do this.

Thomas locked eyes with him, and it took everything for Newt to not run out of there. Thomas’s eyes were so beautiful, lighting up in relief, a smile on his face as he saw Newt.

“It’s Newt, right? Thank god for you, man.”

Newt almost choked. He knows my name, Newt thought before getting angry with himself.

He was acting like a love struck idiot when he knew that Thomas knew his name, that Thomas was relieved to see him, that he was about to kiss him.

Newt had been walking to the stage, to Thomas, when he nearly fell to the floor. He was going to kiss Thomas. It hadn’t even hit him that it was about to happen, that he had to go up there in front of these people and confess his love to Thomas, listen to him confess his, and then they would kiss.

What if he messed up? No, he had those lines memorized like the back of his hand weeks ago.

What if he fell over? As clumsy as he was, Newt was good at keeping his composure and he was a good actor.

Newt realized he was most nervous about maybe somehow, letting it slip that he had been crushing hard on Thomas since freshman year.

He was finally on stage, where someone told him where to stand, and he shot one last look of pure anger at Teresa and Aris, who were now sitting next to each other, giggling.

Then it was starting. It was really happening, and Newt could hardly breathe. If it was anyone else, he could’ve done it, no problem, maybe just a little anxiety. But this was Thomas, and Newt felt like breaking his arm right then and there would be easier than kissing the guy he liked when he knew it wasn’t a mutual feeling.

The scene started, someone called for quiet and the room hushed to whispers as Thomas began his long winded monologue on how he couldn’t stand being away from his lover anymore, how he had to tell him how he truly felt. Then it was Newt’s turn. He walked slowly from his spot just off stage, began speaking.

 “Eric?” Newt’s voiced called out meekly. Thomas’ head snapped around to look at him, and Newt felt his resolve to get through this crumble just a little. The smile and look of adoration he gave next gave Newt a difficult time speaking.

“Is that you, James?” Thomas’ voice meant it was time for Newt to run up and hug him, and the thought made his knees even weaker.

Thomas held out his arms, the signal that it was time for the run and jump, where Newt would be spun around as they both laughed and then he would be set down and then they would proclaim their love and then they would kiss and Newt wasn’t ready for any of it, but he did it anyway.

He jumped and landed in Thomas’s arms, wrapping them around him as they spun. Newt didn’t even have to fake his adoration filled laughs, as the feeling of Thomas’ arms around him was enough to spur it naturally. It felt just like he had expected it to. Thomas was warm and comfortable and he felt good, like really good with his arms around Newt’s waist.

Newt was almost sad when Thomas put him down and had to recompose himself before he spoke again, suddenly painfully aware of their audience and screaming inside at how Teresa and Aris must look after that hug.

“Oh, James, I’ve missed you so much! Why have you been gone so long?” The worry in Thomas’ voice as he took Newt’s hands into his made him forget about the audience again, instead falling back into character completely to distract himself from the reality of his situation.

“My parents locked me in the house for disobeying them when I went out with you.” Newt looked up at Thomas through his eyelashes, mentally telling himself that Thomas’ name was Eric, not Thomas. If he messed up and used his real name when he said he loved him, he’d probably die right then and there.

Thomas’-, no, _Eric’s_ hand pulled Newt’s chin up so he was facing him.

“James, I can’t deny it any longer.” Thomas’s voice was low and it made Newt’s chest tighten as he fought the blush that crept into his cheeks.

“I love you, and I don’t want to be a part from you any longer.” It took Newt a few seconds to respond, blinking heavily and regulating his breathing. He didn’t mean it, he told himself. He’s an actor and you’re an actor, so stop being so damn stupid and get on with it.

His voice came out in a shudder. “I love you too, Eric.” He had almost said Thomas. It was barely noticeable, and Newt found himself relieved when Thomas didn’t notice- or at least pretended not to.

Thomas took Newt’s face into his hands, brushing a strand of curly blond hair off of his face, and then leaned in, his eyes fluttering shut. Newt hadn’t closed his eyes, was watching as Thomas’ lips grew closer, until they barely brushed his. Newt didn’t move, couldn’t, as Thomas paused right there and then opened his eyes, smiling, their lips barely touching.

And then the lights cut off.  

A few people screamed, and Newt heard something crash to the floor. It was pitch black, Newt couldn’t see anything, but he could still feel Thomas’ hands on his face, although their faces weren’t as close.

“What happened?” He heard Thomas shout, sounding annoyed, heard someone answer, still felt hands on his face, still felt Thomas standing in front of him. And Newt was frozen in place, still staring openmouthed into the darkness.

“Got it!” The lights came on suddenly, a blinding flash of white that hurt Newt’s eyes. Thomas finally took one hand off of Newt’s face, using it to shield his eyes while Newt did the same. After blinking a few times, Newt’s eyes readjusted to the light and he could see again, only to find Thomas’ hand cupping his cheek, the boy still looking annoyed at being interrupted.

“Uh, T-To-Thomas?” Newt managed to stutter out, causing the other boy to whip his face towards him.

“Yeah?”

“Your uh, your hand’s still…”

Thomas’s eyebrows were raised in a question, before his eyes flitted over to his hand, still on Newt’s face. He shot his hand back like he had been burned before giving Newt a sheepish smile.

“Ah, my bad. Great work though, I daresay you’re just as good of an actor as Ben. See you around, Newt.”

With this, Thomas gave a small wink before walking away, leaving Newt frozen on the spot. He didn’t move, the sounds of rehearsal wrapping up going on around him, until a hand waved in front of his face, bringing him back to the present.

“Newt? Earth to Newt? You alright, buddy?” It was Aris, standing in front of him, his eyes hinting at a smile. Before Newt could speak, Teresa was beside him, not even trying to hide her smile.

“So, how was the almost kiss, lover boy?” She teased, dancing out of the way when Newt swatted a hand at her. He was trying his hardest to be mad at her, but found it hard with the way his heart was still beating and he could still feel the brush of Thomas’ lips on his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this is officially going to be my first chaptered TMR fic! and of course im newtmas trash so enjoy this rly self indulgent theater AU!  
> Also disclaimer i know very little about theater pls excuse the inevitable mistakes lmao.


	2. Chapter 2

They always tried to go out for coffee after rehearsals to just talk and wind down. The best place to go in the winter for coffee was The Maze. They had just sat down and ordered when Newt spoke.

“By the way, Teresa, I’m never forgiving you for that.”

“Aw, come on!” Teresa was still smiling, and Newt could see Aris trying and failing to hide his own smile behind his hand.

Newt just huffed and crossed him arms as the waitress came back with their drinks. Teresa took a sip of her coffee, scrunched up her nose at the heat, then looked back at Newt.

“OK, ok. I’ll drop it if you’re gonna be mad at me. So, do you have any idea what happened to the lights?”

Aris shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe it was because the main tech guy was too busy ‘acting’ to be head over heels with Thomas- oh, sorry, _Tommy.”_ Aris had put way too much emphasis on the last word, even making a poor attempt at mimicking an accent, and Newt felt his cheeks heat up again.

He had been calling Thomas Tommy to his friends for about a year, and it had become sort of an inside joke, as no one else had ever called Thomas that.

Teresa was sitting with Aris acrossed from Newt and choked on her coffee, spitting some of it on Newt.

“Bloody hell, Teresa!” Newt shot to his feet, the hot liquid startling him. That just made Teresa laugh even more, and soon Aris was too. Sighing and trying to no avail to hide a smile, Newt grabbed a handful of napkins and began trying to get the coffee out of his clothes.

“You’re both terrible, you know that?” Newt rolled his eyes and sat down as a new wave of laughter hit his friends, and picked up his latte. He had just gotten it to his lips when a voice came from right beside him.

“Hey guys!”

Newt shot back to his feet at the voice and his latte slipped, spilling all over him. He was again soaked in coffee, this time his own. It burned his bare skin and he grimaced, trying not to yell. Having coffee spilled on him once, he could handle, even found it funny. But twice? In one day? That was a little much.

“Bloody hell! Again?” He had failed at not yelling, turning on his heel to face whoever had startled him, ready to let them know just how awful they were.

It was Thomas. Newt froze mid-sentence, his finger pointed, coffee dripping from his clothes.

“Oh my god, dude, I am so sorry! Holy shit, are you alright? Here, let me get you some napkins.”

Then Thomas was gone, practically sprinting to the counter and flagging down a waitress to ask for a wad of napkins.

Newt had lowered his hand and now turned to look at Teresa and Aris, both of who had tears running down their faces from holding in their laughter.

Newt took a deep breath, focused the meanest look he could on them, practically growled, “Not a word,“ then took his seat and tried to regulate his breathing.

Why was Thomas here? Why today out of all days had he suddenly showed up here, when they had never seen him in The Maze before? As if it wouldn’t be awkward enough, it just happened to be after their almost kiss. Teresa and Aris had recovered and were now staring passed Newt at Thomas, their eyes flickering back and forth between them. Newt managed to shoot one last look at them before Thomas got back, a giant wad of napkins in one hand, another latte in the other, and a worried expression on his face. It was so similar to the one he had when they were on stage together that Newt felt his throat close a little bit.

“Here, I got you some napkins, and another drink cause, seeing as you never really got to enjoy yours.” Thomas immediately sat down beside Newt, forcing him to scooch into the inside as Thomas handed him a handful of napkins and held the latte in front of him for him to take. Newt started to mop up the coffee from his clothes.

“Hope you like butterscotch? It’s personally my favorite, so I thought I’d get it for you.”

Thomas’ smile at his words made Newt’s heart flutter again as he took the drink from Thomas, their fingertips brushing, then took a sip.

“It’s good, thanks.” Newt managed to get his words out through the coffee in his mouth. Thomas continued to shoot glances at Newt as he greeted Teresa and Aris, who were both still just sitting there with smug looks and Newt wanted to scream.

Everything was so awkward for him as Thomas, Teresa and Aris started up a conversation about how Thomas had decided to get coffee because it was getting cold and practice ended early and how the three of them always came here after practice.

Thomas’ face lit up at this as he asked “Whoa, really? I mean, I don’t wanna get in the middle of your get togethers, but would it be ok if I tagged along sometimes? Get to know my current co-star a little better.” At this, Newt’s head shot up and found Thomas still looking at him, a smile on his face.

The thought of spending time with Thomas in the afternoon both frightened and excited Newt and he shot a look at his friends.

“Oh, yeah of course! You can hang out with us anytime, Thomas. We’d enjoy the company.” That came from Teresa, who shot Thomas a smile and Newt a knowing look.

They hung out for about an hour, chatting about theater and school until Newt got comfortable talking to Thomas, realizing that all of his fear was unfounded.

Thomas was actually extremely nice, making sure to include all of them in the conversation and making Newt feel at home. At one point they were all laughing so hard at something Aris had said that tears were running down their faces and Newt was having a hard time breathing.

And the latte was delicious. Newt found himself ridiculously happy that Thomas had thought to order him another drink, and his own favorite no less.

“So, what did Ben tell you earlier?” Thomas asked Teresa, bringing the conversation back to theater.

“Oh, he texted me and said that some family thing happened. He probably won’t be back for another week, maybe longer.”

“What?” Thomas yelped, looking panicked. “The show’s in a month! He’s gonna be so out of practice by the time he gets back because the only time he ever practices is when I make him!”

“Well, at least you’ve got Newt.” Aris spoke this time, and Newt was positive that both of his friends were evil. He had been hoping they could ignore the whole understudy thing and save Newt the embarrassment of having to remember how worked up he got by their almost kiss, even though he knew Thomas was just acting. Newt, not so much.

“Yeah, you actually did really great today, Newt.” At this, Thomas turned in his seat to face Newt.

“Is that really the first time you’ve acted that part out?”

“Uh, with someone, yeah.” Newt had run through his lines countless times, imagining the scene in his head if it were him and Thomas, but he had never actually practiced it with anyone.

Thomas raised one eyebrow in a show of surprise.

“Could’ve fooled me. You’re a natural, honestly, I seriously think you might be better at it than Ben, but don’t tell him I said that.” He mock whispered the last part, earning a laugh from Newt.

Then a ringtone sounded and Thomas pulled out his phone, frowning.

“Ah, that’ll be my mom. I’m supposed to be home in about…. 30 minutes ago.” Thomas grimaced as he checked the time before standing up to leave.

“Well, I had a really good time with you guys! See you at practice, Newt? Maybe the lights won’t go out next time, eh?” With a pat on Newt’s shoulder, Thomas bid them all goodbye and left the shop and Newt could feel the heat cross his cheeks at what Thomas had said.

“Again, “Newt had turned to Teresa and Aris. “Not a word.”

 

That night, Newt ran through all of his lines at least 10 times for every scene he was in, almost all of them with Thomas. He felt slightly guilty how many times he imagined kissing Thomas as he ran through his lines, knowing he’d have to do the kiss scene again at least once this week.

After hanging out with Thomas, Newt had hoped that his crush would go away a little bit. Instead, it seemed to grow even more. He was laying in his bed, staring up at the ceiling, his insomnia not letting him sleep, when his phone buzzed. It was Teresa.

Teresa: _Pls don’t be mad at me lmao I only want to help u_

Newt: _Why would I be mad? What did you do this time?_

His phone buzzed again, this time from an unknown number.

?: _Hey, is this Newt?_

Newt: _yeah, whos this?_

_Its Thomas. I hope you don’t mind me texting you so late, but I wanted to make sure I had the right number from Teresa_

Newt closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before texting Teresa again.

Newt: _youre dead to me_

Teresa: _;) make sure you get some sleep tonight, Romeo! Love you! <3_

His phone buzzed again and Newt had to take a moment before he looked at it.

Thomas: _hey, you there? If not its cool, you should try an get some sleep. :)_

Newt: _nah, im here. Cant sleep anyway. Whats up?_

T: _same actually. I was just wondering if maybe after school tomorrow we could get together and run lines since we don’t have practice. I usually make Ben do it cause I like to stay on top of it._

T: _you don’t have to, I can do it by myself or get my friend Minho, but id like it if you did._

Newt’s breath caught in his throat again and he had to swallow hard before he could answer.

 

N: _oh, yeah I don’t mind! Sounds good actually. Itd be nice to actually have someone to practice all the lines with instead of talkin to myself like a loony_

He regretted it as soon as he sent it, thinking Thomas would think him too eager or that he’d change his mind or that he’d-

T: _great! See you at school, goodnight newt!_

N: _night tommy_

Newt typed without thinking, sent it before he registered what he had said. He threw his phone across his bed and slammed his face into his pillow to muffle his scream.

He had called him Tommy. He had used the stupid nickname he had made for his crush and he’d only just really talked to him. How weirded out was Thomas, getting a nickname from someone he wasn’t even really good friends with? Newt felt like he’d rather die than go to school tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah!! id just like to say thank you to everyone whos commented, read, and liked so far!! its really nice to see all the support and i love u all.
> 
> also at some point i might make a regular update schedule, but for now itll just be whenever it works out between college and other stuff in my life!  
> and one more thing if the texting is confusing in anyway pls let me know cause i actually had a hard time figuring out how to do it and make it work??


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so ive decided that Fridays will be the update day for this fic! i dont have class on fridays so itll give me more time to write, but i might post other days if im feelin it! also this is kinda fluff filled chapter so enjoy!!

“Don’t even talk to me.” Newt grumbled as Teresa sauntered up to him and Aris after class, a smile on her face.

She laughed at Newt’s visible grumpiness, and he knew she had no remorse.

“Oh, come on, you wanted his number anyway.”

Newt rolled his eyes at her as he shut his locker, getting ready to go home.

“What did you guys talk about?” It was Aris this time, obviously dying to know how Newt’s conversation had gone.

Newt stopped and took a deep breath before facing them both.

“I called him Tommy.”

They both gasped, a look of horror on Aris’ face, one of joy on Teresa’s.

“Oh. My. God.”

“You did? Like really? OH my god, Newt, you’ve talked to him like twice!”

“I know!” Newt turned away from his friends, starting off to the exit at a brisk pace as if trying to leave the truth behind.

“I didn’t even think before I sent it and now I can never show my face to him again.”

Turning back to his friends, Newt reached into his bag for his water, unscrewing the cap and taking a swig before sighing again.

“I feel so stupid, honestly. He’ll probably never want to talk to me again, get a new understudy, and I’ll go back to being the invisible Newt.”

He looked back up at his friends, but they were both looking behind him.

“What’s-“

He turned around so fast that he collided with someone behind him, sending him to the floor and spilling the rest of his water on him. He landed on his back, nearly hitting Teresa and Aris’ legs before they skittered out of the way.

For the second day in a row, Newt had spilled his own drink on himself, even if it wasn’t completely his fault either time.

“Bloody hell!” Newt yelled as his head hit the hallway floor, earning a few looks from other students on their way out.

“Are you okay?”

That was Aris from behind him, worry evident in his voice. Newt nodded, his head throbbing slightly before he went to sit up.

A hand appeared in front of his face and Newt took it, being hauled to his feet and flying a little into the air, the sudden motion making him dizzy and forcing him to close his eyes. There was no way Teresa or Aris could’ve pulled him up that fast.

“You alright?”

Newt slowly opened his eyes and saw none other than Thomas standing in front of him, again with that worried look. There was a tall, muscular Korean guy next to him, his short black hair sticking in spikes in the front.

“We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”

Newt snorted at Thomas’ words before he could stop himself, then looked up at him, finding it easier to speak to him after yesterday’s coffee incident.

“You can say that again, mate. I swear if I get another liquid spilled on me this week I’m gonna go mental.”

This earned a laugh from Thomas and the guy next to him.

“Oh, guys, this is Minho. Minho, this is Teresa, Aris, and-“

“Newt, I presume?”

Minho had cut Thomas off as he introduced them, and Newt simply nodded at the boy.

“So, “Thomas was talking to Newt again.

“We still on for practice?”

Newt suddenly froze, mentally slapping himself. He had been so caught up in the fact that he had called Thomas Tommy that he had completely forgotten they were supposed to practice their lines after school.

“Aw, man, sorry guys.” He said, turning back to face them. “I forgot to tell you. Can I take a raincheck?”

Teresa rolled her eyes in pretend annoyance, walking passed Newt with Aris behind her.

“Yeah, of course. See you tomorrow Newt, Tom, Minho.”

As Aris passed, he leaned towards Newt and whispered in his ear.

“You can let go of his hand now, you know. If you even want to.” Before winking and following Teresa.

It took a minute for Newt to register what he said, and Minho was now saying bye.

“Well, it was nice to meet you, Newt. See you around.” He gave a salute before turning around and walking out, just behind the rest of the students.

It was just Newt and Thomas in the main hall now, and Newt realized with a jolt what Aris had said and took his hand out of Thomas’, where he had been holding it since he helped him up. Thomas looked down in surprise, as if also noticing they had been holding hands for way longer than even remotely necessary.

“So, “Newt coughed, repositioning his backpack, trying to break the awkward silence. “To the auditorium?”

“Oh! Well I actually thought we could just go to my place, you know? Not so formal.”

“Oh. Well, yeah, that’d be cool.”

It was definitely not cool and Newt could feel his heart trying to beat its way out of his chest as he got into Thomas’ car, fastening his seat belt and suddenly regretting agreeing to this.

The only relief was that Thomas didn’t seem to mind Newt’s nickname for him, as he didn’t bring it up and he definitely wasn’t ignoring him. Thomas was making conversation the whole way, talking over the radio and flashing Newt a quick smile practically every time he talked.

When they finally got to Thomas’ house, Newt felt way more at ease, maybe even comfortable. They walked into the house and were immediately accosted by a pudgy kid with curly brown hair.

“Hey Chuck!” Thomas tousled the kid’s hair, earning a swat of the hand and a huff from him.

“Oh! Is this Newt?” The boy had turned to Newt now, his face lighting up into a smile.

Thomas laughed. “Yeah, this is Newt. Newt, this is Chuck, my brother. He’s been wanting to meet you.”

Newt raised his eyebrows in surprise at the kid, wondering why he would want to meet him.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Chuck!” Newt gave him a smile and the boy seemed even happier.

“He does have a cute accent! Sorry I doubted you, Thomas. Anyway, I’ll leave you guys to it.” Chuck left them with a small wave and once again Newt felt his heart beating in his chest.

He looked over at Thomas and saw the boy had a blush spreading on his cheeks. Newt almost laughed at it. For once, Thomas actually seemed embarrassed in a conversation about Newt.

“Cute accent, huh?” Newt couldn’t help the cheeky grin that spread across his face.

“Oh, come on. Let’s go.”

 

They had stopped by the living room to say hi to Thomas’ parents, who immediately took a liking to Newt, who felt a little overwhelmed by all of the attention they were giving him. In 10 minutes they had asked him about his family, where he was from, school, what he wanted to do in college, how he got into theater, and if he wanted to stay for dinner. Newt had answered them all as fast as possible, and had said yes to staying for dinner after a quick glance at Thomas showed he didn’t mind.

Finally, another 5 minutes later, they managed to make it up to Thomas’ room. Newt walked in first and Thomas shut the door behind them before throwing his book bag to the floor and collapsing into a chair at his desk.

The room was kind of small. It had a bed in one corner, and book case in the other, a desk in front of a window facing their yard. There was a dresser against one wall, and the walls were decorated with various posters, anything from musicals to movies to video games. One wall was covered in pictures of Thomas and other people like his family. Newt even spotted a few with Minho and one with Teresa.

Following his gaze, Thomas gestured to the wall. “That’s my favorite wall in this house, honestly. I get pictures with and of everyone I consider my friend and moments and things that make me happy so I can always remember them.”

Thomas almost looked embarrassed, as if scared Newt would think it was weird. Instead, Newt found himself grinning as he looked at all of the pictures, his eyes finally focusing on a picture of himself. It was one from one of last year’s productions. Newt had had an acting role in it, so he had on an odd outfit. The picture had been taken when Newt was in the middle of a laugh, and despite not liking his own face, it was a good picture.

“Oh, yeah. I uh I hope you don’t mind or think it’s creepy or anything but I had some pictures I took last year of you guys and decided to add them to my wall…” Thomas’ voice sounded forced, as if he was nervous. Newt looked at the wall again and saw a picture of Aris, and another one of Teresa.

“Does that mean we’re friends?” Was all Newt could ask. He turned around to see Thomas visibly relax.

“Yeah.”

 

They were running through their lines of one of the first scenes, when they first met. There was music playing softy in the background as they ran through their lines, only breaking character a few times, like when Thomas burped in the middle of a sentence and it took 3 minutes for Newt to stop laughing.

A little over halfway through, they decided to take a break. Thomas went downstairs to get them some snacks and Newt found himself wandering around Thomas’ room. It had heated up considerably now that they were out of the winter air and Newt took off his favorite red scarf, hanging it on the back of Thomas’ desk chair. He ran his fingers over the blanket on the bed, finding it to be incredibly soft.

Then he was back at the photo wall, his eyes pouring over the hundreds of photos. Some were people he recognized, such as a few theater kids, Aris, Teresa, Minho, and Thomas’ family. There were more pictures of Chuck than any one person, and Newt found himself touched by just how much Thomas obviously cared for his brother.

Then there was the picture of himself. It wasn’t very high quality, a Polaroid picture like most of them were. Newt had been caught in the middle of laughing, his eyes closed and his mouth opened in pure joy. For some reason, the fact that Thomas had taken this picture of him over a year ago and still had it made Newt’s heart flutter again. Next to it was a picture of Thomas that was so beautiful Newt felt almost dizzy.

It had been taken by someone else, probably by the same camera, a simple waist up photo. Thomas was standing on some kind of ledge, his arms at his sides like he was extending wings, his hair noticeably messed up by wind. The sky behind him was a mix of reds and oranges and it was truly stunning. His face was one of pure joy, a laugh evident on his lips and the corners of his eyes turned up. He looked beautiful and Newt found himself wanting the picture for himself. Newt was running his fingers over the picture when he heard a slight cough behind him.

Whipping around like he had been caught doing something bad, Newt faced Thomas with wide eyes, his hand now back at his side. Thomas held up 2 plates with some sandwiches on them and wiggled his eyebrows.

They sat next to each other on Thomas’ bed. It wasn’t very big, so their knees were touching, and the fact of it made sure that Newt’s heartbeat didn’t slow. The sandwiches Thomas’ mom had made were absolutely delicious and Newt devoured all of his food. They had set the plates aside, but decided to just run all of their lines until the last big scene still sitting on the bed.

They faced each other now, Thomas’ legs extended past Newt’s side, Newt’s legs crossed under himself. Every now and then their legs would brush against each other and every time it sent a chill up Newt’s spine.

Finally, the kiss scene was next and they stood up so they could fully act it out and Newt felt exactly the same as he did yesterday. His heart was in his throat and he could feel sweat beading on his neck, so he took off his coat to try and cool down.

Then they were starting. They called out to each other, Newt ran and jumped into Thomas’ arms and it honestly felt even better than yesterday, partly because he didn’t have to worry about anyone else seeing him if he messed up and he didn’t have to think about Aris and Teresa’s faces.

It might’ve been just him, but Newt could’ve sworn that the hug lasted longer than it should’ve, Thomas spinning him around and then just holding him. And Thomas’ laugh, _god,_ when it was the only thing Newt could hear it was the most beautiful sound, loud and echoing in his ears. As hard as he tried to distance himself from what was happening and remember that this was all Thomas acting, Newt still felt like that hug was the best he had ever gotten.

Then Newt was set down and Thomas told him he loved him and Newt did the same. Thomas had stepped up, even closer to Newt as he placed one hand on either side of Newt’s face. Newt had no idea what to do with his hands until Thomas whispered for him to copy his actions.

Newt followed suit, placing his hands on Thomas’ face. His skin was soft and warm under his fingertips, his face flushed. Then Thomas was brushing a lock of Newt’s curly hair out of his face again and leaning in, getting closer and closer, his eyes closing.

Newt still wasn’t able to close his eyes, instead watching as Thomas’ face grew closer until he was right where they were yesterday and Thomas’ eyes fluttered open again, meeting Newt’s and flickering down to his lips as he still stared in disbelief. A smile, a real smile graced Thomas’s lips as he brought them so they were just barely touching, his face was tinged red, and it took everything Newt had to stay still and not pull himself into the kiss. Thomas was still looking at him and Newt could feel his cheeks burning, knew how red his face must be, an anxiety even bigger than yesterday’s hit him and he suddenly closed his eyes, no longer able to look at the boy in front of him.

“THOMAS!”

They flew apart, Newt landing on the bed and Thomas landing on his butt on the floor. Newt was still in a state of shock, is heart thumping out of his chest from fear of the sudden interruption. He looked down at Thomas, who for the first time since Newt had met him, looked truly angry as he stood up and threw his door open.

“WHAT?” He shouted back down, not even trying to be polite. Some more words were yelled up and Thomas muttered a sorry at Newt before heading downstairs.

As soon as he was gone, Newt laid back down on the bed, keeping himself from yelling in frustration and trying to stop the burning in his cheeks. Twice they had been cut off at the same time, right before the kiss that Newt had been dreaming of and the one he knew he shouldn’t be.

Newt suddenly became angry with himself, scolding himself for thinking like he had been. He knew that the only reason this was happening was because he just happened to be an understudy. Thomas didn’t have any real feelings for Newt beyond friendship, and it was stupid for him to think otherwise. Whatever he thought Thomas might feel when they were running through lines, he knew it was nothing more than acting, and Thomas was very good at it.

A sudden fear hit Newt that the only reason Thomas was being nice to him was because he had to deal with him for at least a week until Ben got back, and then he would just drop him and ignore him like he had always done.

Hearing footsteps climbing the stairs, Newt quickly pushed the thoughts out of his mind and sat back up, waiting for Thomas to get back and tell him he had to leave or something else bad.

Instead, he didn’t look anywhere near as mad as he had a few minutes ago, instead just slightly annoyed.

“Dinner’s ready. Mom made spaghetti and meatballs so I hope you’re not allergic or anything.”

Dinner was way less awkward than Newt thought it would be. Instead, Thomas’ family managed to make him feel so at home that Newt didn’t even feel out of place. Try as he did, he couldn’t help but sneak glances at Thomas every now and then, seeing just how happy and comfortable he looked with his family.

Newt had decided to go home after dinner, not wanting to stay out too late. Thomas was giving Newt a ride back home, as he lived 10 minutes away by car and it was dark out.

“I’m not letting you walk by yourself in the dark.” Thomas had said as he grabbed his keys and ushered Newt out the door before his parents could assault him with another round of goodbyes.

Newt had rolled his eyes, scoffing. “Yeah, cause I can’t take care of myself?”

“No, I think you probably can. But I’m not about to let my friend walk in the dark cold by himself when I have a perfectly fine car to take him.”

This comment had made Newt smile as he looked out the window on the passenger side. Even without looking he could feel it every time Thomas turned his head to look at him, especially when they were at a stoplight. It didn’t make Newt uncomfortable, instead almost the opposite.

They were maybe halfway there when Thomas suddenly spoke again.

“So, Tommy huh?”

Newt froze, and he felt his blood go cold. He had almost forgotten about that, accidently giving him a nickname that he had secretly used for him for a year. He was preparing to physically throw himself from the moving car when he heard Thomas chuckle.

“It’s cool, I don’t mind. In fact, I kinda like it.”

Newt’s head snapped to look at Thomas, his eyes wide.

“Yeah, it makes me feel special. Also, I bet it would sound pretty cute in your accent.”

There was no way he just said that. Absolutely no way. Newt couldn’t even try to get out a witty remark. His throat had suddenly gone dry and it felt like he wouldn’t be able to talk even if he tried.

Thomas hadn’t looked back at him, instead focusing all of his attention on the dark road in front of him until they pulled into Newt’s driveway, where he parked the car and turned to face Newt.

“Today was fun, thanks for coming over. Maybe we could do it again sometime this week? My family will be out of town for a boy scout event for Chuck till next week, so we wouldn’t get interrupted for a third time.”

Newt managed to nod and give a small smile despite the way his head was screaming.

Thomas was inviting him over when there would be no one else at the house. Even though he knew it was normal for friends to hang out like that, Newt couldn’t help but think about it in a way that was a little more… serious than friendship.

“Yeah, I think I could do that.”

He managed to get out of the car without falling over and stood with the door still open. Taking a deep breath, he decided to do something that really wasn’t as big of a deal as he made himself think it was.

“See ya, Tommy.”

The smile on Thomas’ face made the bright red on Newt’s face worth it and he backed out of the driveway, waved, and pulled away and Newt was trying to keep from smiling so hard that his face actually hurt.

Newt had managed to say goodnight to his parents and make it upstairs before the smile finally hit him. It spread across his face and it was so big that Newt put his hands over his face to try and keep it down.

It failed, miserably, and Newt kept smiling until he fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day passed rather uneventfully, Newt going from class to class without any interruptions of any kind, and it was honestly kind of relaxing. Until lunch, that is.

At lunch, Newt knew he would be facing the full force of Aris and Teresa’s questions about last night, and as much as he hated it, we was kind of excited to tell them.

He had barely sat down at the table when Aris was talking.

“So what happened?

“Did you guys kiss?”

“How was it?”

“How red was your face?”

“What-“

Newt finally cut them off, already feeling himself start to blush. He really blushed a lot, something else for Teresa to tease him about. Newt then found himself gushing about how great it had been and how comfortable he had felt hanging out with Thomas, watched their faces as he told them about the second almost-kiss and laughing when Aris yelled in frustration for him.

They had finally calmed down, all finished eating now. Newt decided to be nice today, as he was feeling quite on top of the world, and took all of their trash to the bins. He had just straightened up after picking a piece of trash he had dropped from the floor when a body slammed into his, sending all of the remaining food over his clothes and sending him to the floor.

New heard laughing as he looked up, and found the person he disliked the most standing over him. It was Winston.

His eyebrows were raised in fake surprise and Newt heard him let out a sarcastic “Whoops!”

Newt’s nostrils flared as he stood up, attempting to brush some of the food off of his clothes. Stuff like this had happened so many times that Newt was used to it, used to controlling his anger. It never got any less embarrassing, however, and Newt found himself blushing from it.

The worst part was that the only person Winston really bullied to this extent was Newt. They used to be friends, a long time ago, before they had a falling out and Winston never forgave him.

“You should really watch where you’re going, Newton.”

Winston always used his real name, to add insult to injury. Newt hated to be called ‘Newton’, it sounded so stupid and it always made him irrationally angry.

“Piss off, Winston.” Newt mumbled, moving to pick up the trash he had dropped and then putting it in the bin. He had barely turned around when he felt a hand close on his wrist and yank him back. Newt was startled, his eyes wide. Sure, Winston had made fun of him and spilled food on him before, but he had never actually grabbed him or anything.

“What the fuck did you just say to me?”

Winston’s voice was low, his face right in front of Newt’s now, the grip on his wrist tightening. The way it sounded honestly scared Newt, and he looked away from him, his throat closing up. He had never seen Winston act this way to him. It had always been bearable, mean names yelled at him in the hallway, jokes, and the occasional shove as they passed each other in the halls. This was completely different and Newt couldn’t help but be genuinely afraid.

He wasn’t strong enough to fight Winston, not by a long shot. He could probably outrun him if he needed to, but he was desperately hoping it would never come to that.

Newt could feel people looking at them now, and Newt said nothing in response, just stood there until Winston scoffed and let go. Newt didn’t look back up, even when Winston spoke again.

“What a bitch, can’t even stand up for himself.” Then he was walking away, leaving Newt standing in the middle of the room, his face and eyes burning. He didn’t even say goodbye to Aris and Teresa, going instead directly out of the cafeteria and to the bathroom, fighting back the tears that stung his eyes.

He managed to make it to the bathroom before the first one fell, hot and wet running down his cheek. He was angry, both at Winston and himself for not saying anything, for crying, for letting it get to him this much. Newt’s hands gripped the basin of one of the sinks as he leaned over it, angry tears leaving tracks down his cheeks. He tried to scrub the stains from the food out of his t shirt, but gave up shortly after he started. He wiped his eyes and washed his face with warm water, trying to get the red to leave his eyes.

 

Newt skipped practice, knowing that his mood was far too bad to get through it. He felt bad for bailing on Thomas, but he didn’t know if he could stand it right now. Newt was still in shock from the way Winston had treated him, rubbing at his wrist where a small bruise had formed. A few hours of doing homework later, his phone buzzed. It was Thomas.

**T: Hey, where were u today? Feelin alright?**

Despite his bad mood, Newt found himself smiling, imagining the same face Thomas had made when he spilled coffee and water on him.

**N: Yeah, sry for ditching you guys today, I just wasn’t feeling too great. I hope it wasn’t too hard to practice without me there.**

Newt had added in the last part as a joke, trying to test the waters on him and Thomas’ friendship.

**T: Aw that’s ok! I hope u feel better! Also it was unbearable! Without my dashing co star by my side I was lost!**

Newt laughed, feeling a smile on his face and could tell that just talking to Thomas was going to improve his mood.

They texted back and forth, Newt’s smile never leaving his face. Finally, Newt looked at the time and saw it said 1 AM, his eyebrows raising in surprise as he went to text Thomas goodnight.

**N: Woah, I didn’t even notice it was already 1 am lol I think I should probably get some rest**

**T: Wow! I didn’t notice either. Time really passes fast when youre doing something you enjoy, I guess. Goodnight newt!**

**N: Gnight Tommy**

_Time really passes fast when youre doing something you enjoy._ The words Thomas had sent bounced around in his head, making it near impossible for him to sleep. Thomas thought talking to him was enjoyable. He actually liked spending time talking to Newt. Suddenly, the thought of going to school in the morning didn’t seem so bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter is kinda short but! i plan on updating either tomorrow or sunday again because im gonna write more today and continue avoiding my slowly growing pile of homework!  
> also here comes the drama~~! and in the next few chapters a few new people are gonna be introduced so watch out for that!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am so sorry.... it took me literally a MONTH to update this lmao  
> BUT i have been so busy the past month with college and personal stuff that i just havent had any time to sit down an write, not to mention ive had a serious writers block the past month aswell so!!  
> but anyway here it is!  
> oh and also i changed my username so theres that

When Newt woke up, the first thing he noticed was how cold it was. Getting up, he made his way to the window and opened the curtains, peeking out. It was snowing. The white flakes were coming down fast, so many of them that it Newt had to squint to see his own mailbox. Joy flooded him, and Newt couldn’t even be bothered to be worried about anything.

Newt got dressed in record time, throwing on jeans, a long sleeve shirt, a sweater, and a jacket before grabbing his phone. He was almost to the top of the stairs when he noticed the absence of his favorite scarf. Running back into his room, Newt started throwing clothes around, looking under everything frantically for the red fabric. After a few minutes and after searching under everything in his room, Newt gave up, instead heading downstairs.

Even though he was sad that he couldn’t find his scarf, Newt’s joy quickly overrode it. Snow was his favorite thing, so when it fell it always managed to put him in a good mood. He barely stopped to give his mom a good morning hug before he was out the door, already on his way to get Teresa and Aris, who both lived in the same neighborhood.

He was at Teresa’s door within minutes, breathing heavily as he knocked. It only took a few minutes before she answered, already dressed for the weather, a huge smile on her face. They hugged and started walking toward Aris’ house.

“School’s cancelled today.” Teresa was kicking her feet through the snow, throwing up even more white flakes. “Mom got the call right before you got there.”

“Good that.” Newt smiled, feeling his mood skyrocket. Not only was it snowing, but Newt didn’t have to deal with Ben or making a fool out of himself at practice again.

They made it to Aris’s house and knocked on his door. His mom answered, and a frown crossed her face.

“Aw, sorry you two. Aris came down with a cold last night, and I’ve confined him to bed rest today. You guys can go up and see him if you want?”

 

 

After shedding multiple layers due to the heat of the house, Newt and Teresa made their way up the wooden steps to Aris’ room. His door was cracked open, and Newt could see him playing his PS4.

Laughing, Newt pushed his way into the room as Aris turned around in shock.

“ ’Bed rest’ my ass!” Teresa’s voice came from behind Newt, and Aris’ cheeks went pink. He scrunched up his nose at them and turned back to his game. “You nerds scared me, I thought you were my mom. She would’ve killed me if she knew I wasn’t in bed.” Aris’ voice was congested, and Newt could tell right away that he was definitely sick.

Teresa pushed past Newt and made herself at home on Aris’ bed, laying on her side to watch him play. Newt took a seat on the floor newt to Aris.

“Well,” Teresa started. “You really should be in bed. You sound terrible.”

Aris mocked her words back at her and Newt laughed.

“But, if we can’t drag you out in the snow with us, we’ll just have to stay here for a while.” Newt stated, and Aris’ shoulders slumped.

“Ugh, even when I’m sick I have to deal with you two?”

This made them all laugh, and soon enough Newt had grabbed the other controller and Teresa was talking about these new kids who had started school yesterday and were in some of her classes.

“Oh, really?” Newt asked. He was interested, as new kids were always a big deal at their school.

“Yeah, they’re siblings. Brenda and Gally, I think his name was. It’s kind of a weird name, but so is Newt, so…” Teresa trailed off with a grin as Newt reached around to swat at her.

She fell back onto the bed, facing the ceiling. “I heard that apparently Brenda’s really into theater and is gonna be helping out with that. Also, Gally’s like, a sports monster. HE play like 20 of them.”

“20?” Aris interrupted, his voice filled with laughter. “You sure about that, T?” 

“Oh come on, you know I don’t know shit about sports. Honestly, I just don’t see the appeal.”

Newt smiled. “Here we go again.” He said in a sing song voice, and he heard Teresa sigh and move around behind them.

“Seriously though, it’s just a bunch of people running around and hitting balls all over the place! How is that entertaining?” Her voice had gotten louder at the end, and Aris and Newt snickered to themselves.

“It’s not, that’s how.” They heard the bed creak as she got up. She began to pace, and Newt sighed before pausing the game. Standing up he made to stop Teresa before she could start.

“It’s ok, we get it! Sports suck, yeah. Terrible.” Newt said, trying to keep Teresa from ranting again. One of her anti sports rants had lasted 15 minutes and had put Aris to sleep, and Newt really didn’t feel like listening to that again.

“So the new kids, yeah? They seem alright?” Newt had found that the best way to keep Teresa from her rants was to give her something different to talk about.

“Oh, yeah!” She stopped pacing, much to both Newt and Aris’ relief. “The girl Brenda is really cool and chill, although I heard Gally has some anger problems sometimes, but he’s a cool guy. I talked to him a little yesterday.”

She took a breath to keep talking until Newt’s phone went off, a text. Teresa immediately stopped talking, instead looking at Newt, obviously waiting for him to check his phone.

Sighing, Newt fished his phone out of his pockets and unlocked it. The text was from Thomas, and Newt felt his heartbeat rise ever so slightly.

“So who is it?” This was Aris, still sitting on the floor.

“I bet its Thomas.” Teresa had a grin on her face as Newt sat on the bed.

Newt nodded. “Yeah, he texted me.”

Teresa sat down next to him and Aris positioned himself so he was facing them. Newt scowled at his nosy friends as he opened the text.

**T: hey Newt!! You seen the snow yet???**

**N: ya, I love it! snows my favorite honestly**

Teresa, who had read the text over Newt’s shoulder, scoffed.

“You two are sickeningly sweet.”

“We’re talking about snow!?” Newt half shouted, his cheeks pink. Aris was grinning. “Honestly, Teresa, you read into things _way_ too much.”

“Then why’s his name _Tommy_ with a star next to it and all I get is ‘T’?

Newt groaned and put his face in his hands. Teresa laughed from beside him, and she and Aris spent the next hour telling Newt what to say to Thomas, and Newt mostly ignored them.

 

Sometime later, Newt and Teresa were leaving Aris’ house. They said goodbye and bundled up again before heading back into the cold. Newt shivered, immediately missing the warmth of the house. He walked so close to Teresa he kept bumping into her, and she finally called him out on it when she almost toppled over into the snow.

“I’m trying to leech any heat you have, its goddamn freezing out here.” Newt mumbled, his face mostly hidden in his jacket. Teresa laughed from beside him and pushed him away.

“No, it’s my heat, you monster! I’m just as cold as you!”

Newt laughed as she sent him sideways. The push was extremely light, but Newt still managed to slip on the only patch of ice relatively near to them and fall right into the snow.

He heard Teresa’s worried voice fall into laughter as he struggled to get up, slipping on the ice over and over. By the time he finally got up, snow all over his clothes and hair, Teresa was sitting in the snow, hunched over. She looked up and Newt saw that she was actually crying from laughter.

“Oh, piss off.” Newt tried to sound mad, but Teresa’s laughter was infectious, and soon they were both dissolved to tears. It was so cold that some of them actually froze to Newt’s face.

They finally made it back to Teresa’s house where they said goodbye, and soon Newt was walking by himself. He had barely made it to his steps when his phone went off again. This time, Thomas was calling him.

He took a deep breath before answering, as normal phone calls were bad enough, but ones from your crush? Definitely worse.

“Hey, Tommy.”

“Hey Newt! You busy?”

“Nah, why? What’s up?” Newt was kicking snow around, his nerves keeping him from staying still.

“Oh good. I was wondering if you’d like to hang out with me and some new friends for a little bit, maybe go get some coffee? Teresa and Aris can come too, if they’d like.”

“Oh, yeah, sure! I’d be up for that. Aris is sick, though, he can’t leave the house. I can ask Teresa though. Call you back?”

They hung up, and Newt immediately texted Teresa.

**Newt: hey T, you feel like hangin out with me an tommy? He said he had some new friends he wanted me to meet.**

**Teresa: when?**

**Newt: now I guess. He didn’t really give any specifics except coffee**

**Teresa: im in**

Newt had mentioned coffee specifically to draw Teresa in. He was too scared to hang out with Thomas and some strangers by himself. He called Thomas back, who answered after the first ring.

“So?” His voice was a bit louder than it had been before, and Newt could hear some people talking in the background.

“Um, Teresa said she’ll come. Where are we meeting you?”

“Right here!” Thomas’ voice sounded odd, and it wasn’t until Newt looked up that he realized why. Thomas’ car had just pulled into Newt’s driveway, and Thomas himself was leaning out of the driver’s window with his phone to his ear and a stupid grin on his face.

Newt hung up, a smile spreading across his face as he made his way to the car. There were 2 people in the back that Newt didn’t recognize. A girl with short cut black hair that framed her face and a boy with short styled brown hair.

The girl spoke first, a smile crossing her face. “Ah, so you must be the amazing Newt we’ve already heard so much about, eh?” Newt felt his cheeks go pink, although it was almost unnoticeable as they already were from the cold. He glanced at Thomas and saw him trying to hide a grin.

The short haired girl laughed before speaking again.

“I’m Brenda, this is Gally, my idiot brother.” She nudged the guy beside her, Gally, who grunted in response, although a small smile was playing on his lips.

“Oh, yeah” Newt said, suddenly remembering a conversation from earlier. “You two started yesterday, right?”

They both nodded, but it was Gally who spoke this time. “Yeah, its actually pretty cool here. No pun intended.”

Newt and Thomas laughed while Brenda merely rolled her eyes, probably well used to her brother’s jokes.

Newt got into the passenger seat and Thomas drove the short distance to Teresa’s house. She was waiting outside for them, and she practically ran to the car. She threw herself into the back passenger seat, inadvertently squishing Brenda into the middle seat.

“Sorry! It’s so goddamn cold out there I booked it so I could get back in some heat.” Teresa was shivering, and Thomas made a point of turning the heat up even further.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooh boy this was kinda a look into Newt Teresa an Aris' friendship an it made me really happy to write it so!! also Brenda and Gally are siblings bcause why not i can see it. also the next chapter is already written and will be posted either tomorrow or friday i havent decided you guys can pick if u want!! but it starts gettin a lil more into Thomas and Newt's relationship 'wink wonk'


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so my classes are ending next week which means i have a lot!!! of stuff to do this coming week so dont plan on any updates soon sorry! but after classes are over i have like a whole month of free time so i will definitely be updating more often and i might possibly start up a new story we'll see how i feel lmao. any way enjoy this chapter!!!

When they got to the Maze, Teresa and Brenda had already reached what Newt would classify as friends. Gally, less so, but he was obviously enjoying her company too. They all ordered and crammed into a booth, Newt sitting between Teresa and Thomas, Brenda on the other side of Teresa, and Gally on Brenda’s other side.

Brenda and Gally were talking about how they had met Thomas.

“Yeah, so, this guy just runs up to me as I’m checking out this flyer for the play, like actually sprints.” Brenda started, already making Thomas laugh as he no don’t remembered it himself.

“And he’s got this look in his eyes and I’m honestly kinda creeped out. So, I’ve got the flyer in my hand and he just looks at it and then looks back at me, then back at the flyer, like, 3 times.”

At this point, the rest of them were laughing now, and Brenda was trying to keep it together for the sake of her story. She had to take a breath before continuing.

“And I’m like, “Can I help you?” and he’s just staring! Then this other guy comes up too, Minho. And now they’re both kinda looking at me weird and I’m about to leave before he asks me if I wanna help out with the theater production. Then Gally here walks up to see what’s going on and that’s how we met this weirdo.”

Newt had his hand over his mouth so he wouldn’t laugh too loudly. Teresa, however, was not as caring.

“Oh my god, Thomas, that’s not how you make friends!” She was yelling at him, and the tips of Thomas’ ears went pink.  

“What! She looked interested in the play!” Thomas huffed and crossed his arms. It was then that Minho walked in, waving at them as he placed an order at the counter. Now with a coffee, Minho made his way over to them.

“Hey losers.” That was Minho’s greeting as he slid in next to Gally and took a sip of his drink. His forehead had a thin layer of sweat and he was wearing running clothes, so he must’ve just gotten inside from a run. Thomas nodded at him before saying “Ah Minho, nice of you to finally join us!”

“Yeah, took ya long enough.” This was Teresa, earning a small laugh from Brenda.

Minho shrugged before answering. “Gotta keep up my flawless figure man. I mean, have you seen me?”

Thomas choked on his coffee, spitting some out as he started laughing. Everyone followed suit, leaving Minho in fake-shock.

“What? Come on, I’m the hottest one at this table, let’s be real.” Minho wasn’t even able to hold back his laughter, joining the chorus coming from their table, which was earning them a few dirty looks from the other customers with how loud the laughter was.

They hung out for a few more hours, making jokes and getting to know each other better. Newt learned that Brenda had been doing backstage theater stuff since the 6th grade, and that it’s what she wanted to do as a career. Gally, however, had been playing sports since it was an option. He had been the quarterback and team captain at his old school all 3 years, and this fact impressed Minho, who began grilling him on his favorite teams and players.

One thing Newt couldn’t help but let himself notice was the amount of times Thomas looked at Brenda. He knew he was just psyching himself out, but it made him jealous. Oh, come on, Newt thought to himself. As if he had any right to be jealous. It’s not like he and Thomas were remotely anywhere near a relationship that Newt should be jealous.

Yet, he was. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Brenda was pretty, not his type, sure, but even Newt couldn’t deny she was actually very attractive. The only reason Thomas even hung out with Newt was because he probably felt obligated to, not because he really wanted to. There wasn’t even anything between them, so why did Newt care so much if Thomas liked Brenda? Newt shrunk lower into his seat, trying to distance himself from the conversation so he could eventually slip away without anyone caring too much.

But of course, someone noticed. It just happened to be the last person Newt wanted to notice him.

“Newt?” It was Brenda, who looked at him with a worried expression on her face. “You good?”

Newt simply nodded, not wanting to talk to her after what he had been thinking. He felt like a jerk, ignoring Brenda because he was jealous of something he had no right to be jealous of, an imaginary mutual crush between him and Thomas, which in reality was really just some one-sided pining on his part.

This of course made him feel even worse, and he was genuinely relieved when they all finally started to leave. They all crammed into the car, Brenda, Teresa, Gally and Minho squished together in the back with Newt in the passenger seat.

The radio was turned up, a perfect excuse for Newt not to have to talk. Thomas dropped off Minho first, then Brenda and Gally. Next was Teresa, and finally it was just Newt and Thomas in the car. They sat in silence the short drive from Teresa’s to Newt’s, and as much as it killed Newt to have this awkward silence, it was better than talking right now.

The sun was setting as Thomas pulled into the driveway and Newt made to get out. He got as far as his steps before he heard the car door shut and Thomas walking towards him.

“Newt, wait up a sec.” Thomas put his hand on Newt’s shoulder, gently pulling him to face him.

Newt almost ignored him, until he saw the worried look on Thomas’ face that made him stay. The fact that he was so eager to know that Thomas did care about him genuinely and not just because he felt obligated to made Newt mad at himself.

“Are you okay?” Thomas asked, turning to face Newt, who looked away before answering.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

Thomas’ eyebrows furrowed in frustration, as if he was thinking of what to say.

“No you’re not.”

Newt’s breath caught in his throat and he glanced at Thomas, who was staring at him, his face full of concern. Before he could stop it, a tear fell from one of his eyes, and Newt felt his composure breaking. He sat down hard on the steps, his face turned down and tears slowly falling.

Thomas was next to him immediately, and he hesitantly wrapped an arm around Newt’s shoulders and pulled him closer. If the situation was different, Newt might’ve passed out. But instead, he just leaned his forehead on Thomas’ shoulder and cried, letting all of the hurt and frustration from the past few days out.

Thomas rubbed his back and let him know that it was okay. When Newt finally felt like speaking again, the first thing he said was “Sorry.”

Thomas scoffed. “You don’t have anything to be sorry about, okay Newt? Everybody needs to break down once in a while, and it’s ok. I’m just glad you don’t have to be by yourself right now.”

This almost made Newt cry again, but he managed to hold it together, taking his head off of Thomas’s shoulder, but not moving any further away.

“Now,” Thomas said. “What’s wrong?”

Newt panicked for a moment, thinking of what to say. There was no way he could tell Thomas what was mainly bothering him. He would never want to talk to him again, knowing that Newt was jealous of something he had no right to be jealous about. Instead, Newt opted to talk about a less pressing worry.

“There’s this kid at school who’s had it out for me since 7th grade. He’s always called me names and picked one me, occasionally shoved me in the halls or the lunchroom.” Newt’s voice was shakey, and he could feel Thomas stiffen at his words. Newt glanced at him and saw that he looked actually angry.

Taking a breath, Newt continued. “But that’s all he’s ever done. Nothing really serious. Until yesterday. I was taking our trash to the bins when he ran into me and spilled the food all over me. I told him to piss off and he- he grabbed me and I was actually _scared_.” Newt had to stop talking for a minute, idly rubbing the wrist Winston had grabbed, the bruise now purple.

“I’ve never been scared by him before, just annoyed. He’s never actually touched me before, but he left a bruise this time and I-“

“Where?”

“Huh?” Newt looked up at Thomas, who repeated his question.

“Where’s the bruise?” Thomas’ voice was a mixture of anger and concern, and his eyes widened as Newt pushed his sleeve up and revealed the purple bruise that wrapped around his wrist. Thomas gently took it into his hands and examined it, making sure not to actually touch it.

Newt watched Thomas, knew he shouldn’t be staring like he was. But he did it anyway. He did it because he realized that even if Thomas didn’t like Newt in the same way, he did care about him. And Thomas was a good friend to have, even if that was it, just friends. For the first time, Newt found that he could be okay with that. As long as he could spend time with Thomas, he was okay with anything really.

Newt had been staring far too long, and there was no way Thomas hadn’t noticed. In fact, Newt could’ve sworn that his ears had turned pink. Thomas had let go of Newt’s arm and now stated very matter of factly, “If he ever does it again, I’m gonna beat his ass.”

Newt laughed softly, and Thomas puffed out his chest.

“I’m serious, Newt! If he does anything else, let me know. I don’t want him to think he can mess with you… with any of my friends, and get away with it.”

Newt shook his head, knowing that Thomas meant it. He cast one last look at the other boy before standing up and brushing snow off of himself. It was completely dark outside now, the sun having gone down. The moon was hidden by the overcast sky, and snow was falling again.

Thomas stood next to him, their shoulders brushing. Suddenly, Thomas made a surprised noise.

“Oh! I almost forgot.” Newt turned to look at him as Thomas pulled a long red scarf out of his jacket pocket. Newt gasped in surprise; it was his favorite scarf. He accepted it from Thomas and wrapped it around himself.

“Where’d you find this? I was looking for it this morning!”

“You left it in my room the other day.” Thomas rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I meant to give it to you earlier, but I completely forgot.”

“Thanks, Thomas.” Newt smiled at him, then looked down, unsure of what to say next. He didn’t have to think about it much, though, as the next thing he knew Thomas had wrapped his arms around Newt’s waist and was pulling him into a hug.

Newt froze in shock, stiffening up slightly. This was the first time he had hugged Thomas for real, and it felt even better than the others. Newt eventually relaxed and wrapped his arms around Thomas’ shoulders, resting his head lightly on the slightly shorter boy’s shoulder.

They stayed like that for what seemed like forever, neither party eager to let go. Finally though, Newt was the one to break the embrace, because he knew the longer he stayed the harder it would be for him to stop.

Thomas was sitting in the driver’s seat with his door still open when he said goodbye.

“Goodnight, Newt. See you soon?”

Newt couldn’t help but smile.

“Goodnight Tommy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :ooooo that was a really fun chapter for me to write honestly. i love exploring some of the dynamics of their friendships! also i promise minho's not the self centered obsessed with his looks minho that u see in like.... 2 out of 3 fics lmao. also friendly reminder that this fic is unbetad so i apologize for any errors! also its 2 am and i have to write two essays tomorrow so its gnight for me lads!!!

**Author's Note:**

> so this is officially going to be my first chaptered TMR fic! and of course im newtmas trash so enjoy this rly self indulgent theater AU!  
> Also disclaimer i know very little about theater pls excuse the inevitable mistakes lmao.


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